Article by
Barbados Today

Published on
June 14, 2018

The Barbados Vagrants and Homeless Society (BVHS) has received a much-needed financial boost to assist with their efforts as they continue to improve the lives of the island’s homeless.

Kemar Saffrey, President of the Society which provides food, clothing and rehabilitative programmes for homeless people across Barbados, accepted the second tranche of a five-year agreement with CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank which totals $100,000. He shared that while men continue to make up the majority of the 527 clients they have assisted to date, there is an increasing number of women, some pregnant and some with children, who are seeking to be a part of the programme.

Expressing his thanks to the bank for their continued support, he said the society hoped to open three shelters in the near future–one each for men, women and rehabilitation – and the $20,000 injection will not only assist with their feeding programme but will also help to advance their building fund.

He stressed there was an urgent need for bigger premises to accommodate the growing number of people needing their help.“Whilst we greatly appreciate the public’s donations of food and clothing, we need more financial support as it can help strengthen us in getting more people off the streets and into rehabilitative programmes that we know have worked successfully,” he said.

Making the presentation on behalf of the bank, Mark St Hill, Managing Director, Retail and Business Banking, said the bank was “Extremely pleased to continue working with Kemar (the BVHS) as they step up the fight to represent the homeless. What they are doing is very important and we are proud to be associated with this organization which seeks to reintegrate the participants into society with a view to them becoming productive citizens.” (PR)